The display of ordered items, whether ordered in a list or another hierarchy, by computers is well known. For example, calendar applications running on Macs and PCs are common place. Typically, events in the calendar can be displayed in terms of a simple list in the order in which they occur or in a diary format. Commonly, the user is able to select the display of events at different hierarchical levels. For example, they may select a format from among, for example, a single day format showing hours of a single selected day; a week format showing days in the selected week; a month format showing days or weeks in the month; and a year format showing days, weeks or months in the year. An example of a month format showing days in the selected month is shown in FIG. 1.
The user can click on an arrow button to move through time and to select different levels of a hierarchy in time (days/weeks/months/years) in the selected display format, and the events for the selected time are displayed.
Similarly, it is well-known to order files in a hierarchy of folders. For example, a top-level folder may contain a plurality of files, as well as a plurality of sub-folders—that is, folders at a second level of the hierarchy. These second level folders may each contain a plurality of files, as well as a plurality of sub-sub-folders—that is, folders at a third level of the hierarchy. The hierarchy may contain a large number of different levels.
In addition, it is known to display image files in clusters, the files being arranged in clusters calculated by an algorithm that uses the time when the images were created. The images in each cluster a shown in a row or column, the rows or columns for the respective clusters being arranged on an imaginary three-dimensional (3D) plane.
However, there exist problems with these known applications. In particular, navigation through calendars of events or hierarchies of folders is cumbersome and lacking in aesthetic quality. Moreover, all files located in a hierarchy must presently be accessed by “drilling” down through the hierarchy until the appropriate file is found. However, if the name of the file and its location in the hierarchy is not known, locating a desired file can be time-consuming. Search applications for locating files by properties of the file—for example, words contained in a document file—are known. However, they can be time consuming and difficult to operate, especially when the hierarchy is complex, there are many files in the hierarchy, and the size of individual files in the hierarchy is large.